Reinforced copper and process of making same.



W. M. PAGE. REINFORCED COPPER AND PROCESS OF MAKING SAME.

APPLICATION FILED JUNEZB, 1911 Patented Jan. 19, 1915.

' pound metal rods obtained in the manner I uNI'r-nn srarrnsi ma orrron.

WILLIAM MARSHALL PAGE, or BIDLEY PARK, PENNSYLVANIA. 7

REINFORCED COPPER PROCESS OF MAKING SAME.

' a specification.

. This invention relates, to reinforced copper and processes of makingsame; and it comprises a body of copper relnforced I by interiorlyincorporated relatively fine threads of steel s 'locked engagement withsaid copper and eachof said threads being of very small or minutediameter as compared with the crosssectional diameter of said body ofcopper;

and it also comprises a method of making such reinforced copperwhereina'pluralityof rods, of the like, of steel are placed in a mold ina spaced and isolated substantially parallel arrangement, thisarrangeentbe ing such as to leave a comparative-y wide unobstructed spacearound the inner periphery of the mold, copper is cast into the moldfilling the spaces between the spaced rods and the space between therods and mold walls, and the compound ingot so formed is worked downfltorods or the like in such a manner as-to l'zeep-the. copper shrunk downon the steel during the work-- ing operations; and it furtlfer comprisesan extension of'said invention wherein comjust described are in theirturn used as cores in a molding operation, copper is cast about them toform a secondary billet, and this billet is worked down, the operationbeing repeated as many times as may be desirable to form tertiary,quaternary, etc. billets; all

as more fully hereinafter set forth; and as Ithas long been adesideratum' 'm' the art to'obtain compound or joined bodies of copperand steel which would unite the merits ofthe two'metals, havingthenon-corrosive properties, the color and surface appearance (where thecopper exists as a facing or sheath) and conductivity of the. copper-andthe high strength of the steel, the idea ordimain y steel but is facedor sheathed with Specification of Letters Patent? insubstantiallyparallel arrangement, said steel threads being innaril being toproduce-an article which is the weaker and more expensive but moreconductive and more ornamental metal.

These efforts until recently have not been crowned with success forreasons depending, on the. nature of the two metals, which do [notreadlly unite together. It is impracticable to produce a rolledunion'between. substantial bodies of copper an'dof steel, as by rolhngdow n relatively thick hot juxtaposed plates of the two metals."Relatively thin Z'plates of either metal cannot well be usedv since theywould be consumed by oxidation. Both metals readily oxidize when hot andair cannotin practice be excluded during heating'and rolling. The twometals also roll differently and expand and contract differently, whileunder steel rolling conditions their surfaces exhibit little or no tend-'ency to unlte with an integral'union which 'would compel uniformextension on working down together. Furthermore with comw parativelyheavy plates of both metals, and it is not worth while trying to workwith Patented Jan. 19, 1915; I Application filed June as, 1911. SerialNo. 634,886.

thin sheets of either in rolling mill'practice, the plates are toothickto be. sufficientlyv yielding to allowforcing of absolute con:-

not even a good 'frictio'nfit. The same considerations apply in mostways to the pro- :Iduc't'ion of round-coated material'by rolling a coreand an annular sheath together.

. Recently material composed of copper andfsteel united by a true weldunion has become commercially available (Patent 8h tact at all pointsbetween abutting surfaces, 1 so there is in plate-uniting processesusually while it does not readily corrode, there being no seam, or lineof disuni'on between the metals or pore orcrevice in the coating intowhich molsture can penetrate and set up a galvanic couple.

.95 p This material is however rather copper coated steel thanreinforced copper since under the most feasible methods of makingitsubstantial bodies of steel are. employed. A substantial body of steelmay be dipped in very highly heated molten copper, or supermolten.'copper (Patent 853.716) ,7 to produce a clinging film of alloy,

withdrawn-into a protective atmosphere and more copper cast on wlth theproduction of -thick1-"-'coated. billet which can. be rolled wnto anyextent desired. It is V difiiwlt o hand e sm ll o thin and are rolledand drawn down to the.

dimensions desired t'orthe finished articles, such as' wire, rod,sheets, etc.

In the present invention ll desire to produce a reinforced copper ratherthan a coated steel and to this end I produce a material which is forthe major part composed of copper, being advantageously as high as 90per cent. copper, and instead of having the steel reinforcement occur asa unitary body or single core, -ll employ the steel as a plurality ofrelatively fine embodied spaced and isolated threads having thecharacteristics of worked down metal. This gives me a double advantageinthat the steel of the threads is made much stronger, which means that lcan secure higher tensile strength with less steel, and

in that the compound material is much more flexible than is possiblewith all the steel occurring as a single stifi core, which is adesideratum in many cases, and particularly where the compound materialis to be used for hung and strung wires. For many purposes,such as wire,it is desirable that the compound material shall have as nearly aspossible, all the properties of copper save that it shall. have a hi htensile strength and high elastic limit. i ure copper in wires tends tosag and neck under strains and temperature changes; and while it may behardened and strengthened to some extent by various alloying treatments,these alloyings run down its most valuable property, its highconductivity for the electric'cur rent.

and in-working hot after reheating this is.

.particulfily apt to happen. Rolling of juxtaposed unwelded thick bodiesof steel,

. whether as platesor as core and sheath, is

quite diflicult. But this tendency of the metals to partdoes not happento such an extentswhere the steel body is relatively thin and of smalldiameter since the smaller it is of course the greater the friction,propor tionatelv, tending to resist mechanical part ing of the two metalsurfaces. But such a paratively large steel' core could not.

to resort to an expedient.

sorted to, and so on till the'diameter of the thin body of steel must besurrounded or included by the copper since otherwise it would perish inrolling. By using a relatively large number of relatively small steelrods in a mold, andcasting copper around 7o the rods to forma'relatively large ingot or billet, the rods being spaced from eachother by'substantial areas or layers of copper and from the inner marginof the mold, a primary compound billet can be produced 7a which willwithstand the strain and stresses of rolling to an extent suflicient formy purposes. lLf, for example, say 54 rods of it inch steel be laced ina mold of a diameter appropriate or making, say, a 6% billet, so coppercast about them and the billet thus made rolled down to rod, each of the54 rods will have suffered a concomitant reduction and will be in theform of fine threads contained within the rod so pro- 86 duced so thatsuch rod may be readily drawn down-to wire'in a way inwhich a similarrod having a single unitary unwelded comlin the preliminary stages ofthe rolling down at of the rod-reinforced primary billet care must betaken to avoid parting while the steel cores are still of somesubstantial diameter; and for this purpose it is desirable As stated,expansion and contraction are greater with copper than with steel andthis may be utilized in the rolling. If the hot compound billet beallowed to cool super-- ficially before-introducing to the rolls, thecopper shrinks down on the steel rods binding on them tightly. Afterentering the rolls the temperature of the whole mass underthe' rollpressure equalizes again, and the shrinkage is relieved; but prior toequalization considerable extension-may be effected. llf now thecoextended metals be -ll hile as stated it is dificult to roll andallowed to cool again superficially to shrink on the copper shell,rolling can be again rellll contained steel threads is sufiicientlyreduced to allow friction to hold the metals together in the wiredrawing. After a steel reinforcement in a comparatively massive body ofcopper becomes threadlike in diameter friction will hold it. lit is notpossible to roll down a thin unwelded copper sheath on a steel corejthatis, to start with a steel core and'an unwelded copper shell of smalldiameter and roll down to a point Where the shell will becomefilm-"like. But it, is possible to roll down relatively small steelrods'included in a relatively large and massive copper body, even ifthey be un-' welded thereto. For some reasons it is delies sirahle toweld such rods to the main body of the copper, but for other reasons itis dellllii sirable that they shall not be welded. And,

as stated, with prpper precautions included isolated comparatively smallsteel rods can 1% steel rods of small diameter in a mold and castingaround copper of a temperature ap-.'

propriate to attack the surfaces to the steel rods to form a weld union,the bodyof the copper necessarily becomes much contaminated withdissolved iron. The small rods its full conductivity. v

of a character permitting quick solidificaof course expose a relativelylarge surface to contact with inflowing metal. But by usinglow-temperature molten copper, that is copper at a temperature at whichit will not readily unite with steel, the copper cast in does not becomecontaminated and retains The molds should be tion.

The process just described results in the formation ofya primaryreinforced billet ;v a

" billet of cast copper containing a multiplicity of incdrporated steelrods, which on reduction of the primary billet give a primary rod orwire having distributed through its mass threadz-like linear bodies ofsteel. These thread-like bodies having been worked down hoiiwhile'shielded from actual contact with the air and with the working tool,have an exceptionallyhigh strength.

And the further this reduction can be carried, the greater becomes thetensile strength of the steel perunit of sectional area. It is'therefore frequently desirable to carry the .process further and makesecondary, tertiary or quaternary billets, or even further. In so doing,the extension of the steel threads, and the consequent heightening oftheir tensile strength, is concomitant. For example, steel rods may beplaced infa mold,

copper cast around them to form a primary billet as described, and thisprimary billet drawn down to half inch 011% inch-rods, and

' these rodsin turn placed in a mold and used as the reinforcingelements in forming a new or secondary reinforced compound billet which,in turn, can be; reduced to ifrod wire. The =3 rod resulting'from thesecondary billet can be used to make a tertiary billet; the rodtherefrom in turn used to pro-' duce a quaternarybillet, and so onindefinitely. This process can be carried on till the incorporated steelthreads' become indefinitely fine. v 50 steel rods in the pr marybillet, each 3 rod from it will contain 50 steel threads. If

. now 50 of these rods .be used. in making a secondary-billet, suchsecondary billet .will.

contain 50x50 or 2500 steel threads. a. ter- Where the .wire to beproduced is to be If, for examplefthere be mold havin' may bc-need'thesje heat removing molds, to cast the moltiary billet made with theaid of 50 of the secondary rods will in turn, contain 50 2500 threads or125,000; and a quaternary billet will contain 50 125,000- or 6,250,000threads, and so on. Wire drawn from a quaternary billet will contain,under the stated circumstances, 6,250,000 steel threads and this wiremay be very fine; the fineness to which the contained steel threads mustbe reduced will be readily evident.

While as stated it is not practicable to roll-weld substantial bodies ofsteel and of copper, and particularly where there is any possibilit ofair gaining access to the line of inten ed union, with a comparativelyfine, flexible and yielding thread of steel in a comparatively massivebody of copper,

with absolutely no possibility of access of air to the abutting boundingsurfaces and with such surfaces constantly pulled outand extended by theworking operation in such manner as to constantly expose new and,

very likely, molecularly reactive faces in forced contact, there occurssome sort of union, possibly mechanical but possibly also an alloying mthe sense of a molecular interpenetratlon. The new surfaces constantlybeing produced are in absolute contact and, so to speak, withinmolecular reach offeach other.

It is advantageous to make a secondary material in the way describedbecausethe steel threads in the duplicated reduction become so veryfine'that they have little stiffness while their tensile strength isvery great. The secondary material therefore be-' haves, so far asflexibility'is concerned, very much like copper, while it has a muchhigher tensile strength. With a secondary billet, contamination of thecast copper in making the, primary billet, is not so important sincethere is no chance for contaminationv of the main bod) of the copper inmaking the secondary billet, the steel reinforcing rods being ofcourseprotected by the copper jacket coming from the primary billet.

By using low temperature copper in the 'castingoperation in making theprimary billet, however, contamination can be readily I Y avoided. VSince it is not necessary to make a -weld union in the presentinvention, the

casting copper can be at such a low temperature as not to unite with,alloy with, or dis-.

solve the steel againstwhich it is cast. 'If

desired,'th'e casting may be in a water-cooled mold, or a mold havingthick, heat conductive walls, so that the copper cast in shall solidifyat once; i. 6., shall not remain in contact with the steel -,cores in a;fluid state I for an appreciable time. An iron or steel a thick cast-onrim of copper It is a useful expedient, using pure. copper solidifiesagainst the walls prior No weld union being contemplated in th presentinvention, the presence of a spacing layer of oxid between the steel andthe copper is not always disadvantageous. some electrical purposes,indeed, it is desirable to have such a spacing layer. However, it isusually moreadvantageous to have the rods metallic surfaced, as bypreviously' pickling or sandblasting them, as this gives the surface asort of tooth which is useful later in producing the desired frictionfit.- Where pickling is done by hydrochloric acid, a little chlorid ofiron may adhere to the steel and proves useful in the subsequentcasting. operation, as it is volatile and 'displaces air. The rods maybe given a twist or bendin'order to promote locking union with thebillet of copper in the preliminary stages'of drawing down. Thearrangement of the rodsin the mold is best substantially parallel; thatis, they should all have the same general direction. They may be groupedorclusteredor spaced in any arrangement desired. In the ultimate wirethe rods will reappear as linear thread-like bodies of steel and it isdesirable that these thread-like incorporated reinforcing members'bespaced away from each other the same distance throughout the Wire sothat each part of the wire will-be like each other part; and this isbest done by making a parallel arrangement of the rods in the originalprimary billeti Where it-isdesired to obtain very fine threads of steelin the wire from a primary billet, of course fine rods or even Wires ofsteel may be employed in making the primary billet. Even with relativelyfine wire employed as cores in making the primary billet, with the useof low temperature casting copper no contamination of main copperbody-need be feared.

For some purposes,

the

' The bronze coated primary rods may be used the cast copper in making aprimary in reinforcing a secondary copper billet or secondary bronzebillet as may be desired.

An expedient which is sometimes useful in reducingthe possibility ofcontaminatignuof i et is to electroplate the rods or wires employed witha coating of copper. lit is less useftil to the copper used in formingthe primary billet may be replaced by bronze, thereby producing areinforced.

brass coat, zinc coat or tin coat the cores For some purposes rods ofaluminum,

nickel, cobalt, etc. may be used in lieu of steel. lltis not usuallydesirableto employ sections of stranded cables as reinforcing cores inmaking theprimary billet. With low temperature casting-copper, thecopper does not penetrate a stranded core though subsequent workingtends to close up cavities. a

lln compound wire andother material ot reinforced copper made under thepresent invention, the steel threads are so very fine that even if notwelded to the'copper no substantial seam or avenue for moisture existsbetween any thread and the copper surrounding it; there isno substantialopportunity for the capillary penetration of corrosive fluids. Andshould by chance such corrosion-occur around one thread, it does notafiect the remaining threads. The amount of steel exposed at any oneplace in a cut face of a reinforced conductor under the presentinvention, is wholly negligible. Neither is there any possibility of there moval of the reinforcing threads of steel by ing it in-pla'ce. Thethreads should always 'loe incorporated in the body ofcopper at asubstantial distance from theperiphery or jniiargin. lit. is alwaysdesirable that there s iall be a relatively substantial shell or coatingof purecopper outside the reinforced portion of the metal; and the rodsshould consequently always be clustered or located in-the billet was toleave an unobstructed space between the assemblage of rods and the'innerperiphery or margin of the mold used in makin the compound-billet. Therods orcores s ould be spaced apart sulii ciently to 'allow-the castcopper to enter between.

Since the main object of the present in vention is tov produce areinforced copper, rather than a coated steel, it is usually desirableto restrict the amount of steel to a low proportion; say around 10 percent.

' Material may be made with as high as 50 per cent. steel but suchhigh-steelmaterial is less and less like copper as the percentage ofsteel increases." llili h steel reinforced- Wire under the presentinvention has however certain unique properties which make it useful-insome relations. A wire carrying, say, 50 per cent. of embodied steel-1nthe time form of excessively thin, very strong isolated parallel linearthreads of strong steel spaced by films of softer copper has mechanicalproperties quite different from other available materials. A strandedbody of steel wires is stiffer and not so strong even when of the samediameter and so carrying much more steel. The individual steel threadsin the present material are, or may be, much finer and stronger thanwire can be commercially drawn. For conductor wires, of course, theconductivity of the copper is I the'main thing to be considered, and therow of reinforcing bodies in annular arrangement; Fig. 5 1s a S1m1lar'S8Ct10Il'0f amore steel there is in the compound wire the less copperthere can be. As 10 per cent. of

' steel in the form of a multiplicity of distributed thread-like linearbodies will give an ample strength for most conductor wire purposes, itis usually desirable. not to use more steel. Such a compound materialcarrying 10 per cent. steel has a very high scrap value; it beingpossible to recover the scrap by simply melting'up and burning out theiron.

In the accompanying illustration I have shown more or lessdiagrammatically cerwire; Fig.- 6 1s a similar view of a billet havingseveral annular rows of .reinforcement; Fig. 7 is a similar View of abillet having the reinforcement in central clustered arrangement; Fig. 8is a similar view of a billet having the reinforcement in star shapedarrangement; Fig. 9 is a similar -view of a secondary billet having areinforcement derived from a primarv billet;

and Fig. 10 is a transverse vertical'section of a flat sheet barcontaining reinforcements inIri ht angled arrangement.

n bass 2 and provided with pouring spout 3, gas inletA and gas outlet 5.In the mold is shown a mass of castcopper. 6 and reinforcing naked steel.rods 7. As shown in Fig. 2 these rods may be twisted or otherwiseshaped to give good frictional engagement. This howeveris not necessarythoughsometimes-advantageous. In Fig. 3 is shown a rod 8 provided with athin flash coating 9 of electrodeposited copper. In Figs. 4, 5 6, 7 and.8, 10 represents the main body of cop} Bet d e reinforcing nake seaearly cf. earner and .2 are p I In forcements- Figure 1 1s a verticalsecig. 1, element 1- is a mold resting o n of copper,

, it is better to have reinforcing elements in 951854111 F 9', l e reaesents. the

acetates as then rolled bodies derived from 'a primary billetand' 'jcomposed of copper containing thread-like steel bodies 13.

Special -steels,- such as vanadium steel, chrome .steel, tungsten steel,nickel steel,

manganese steel etc.', can be used for reinforcement since in workingthey are pro tectecl against oxidation and change of composition by theprotecting sheath of copper. The copper acts as a sort of lubricant andfacilitates the drawing 'dow-riof thesehard and tenacious steels in away which is hardly practicable with the naked steel. Andtheir hightensile strength can be relied upon in the present invention withoutfear of the concomitant stiffness, sincev the reinforcing; bod1es arereduced, as stated, to excessively.

fine threads. A composite copper which contains from 10 to 15 per cent.of such very strong'steel in threadlike linear bodies is still flexibleand can be handled and hamfilaments yield readily to flexure, although.mered like pure copper. The included steel I displaying their hightensile strength on longitudinal pulling of thewire. Where a very softmetal is required, Wrought iron and mild steels may'also be used asrein-i While my invention is particularly useful; in making rods, wires,and the like, and particularly for, conductor purposes, it is alsoapplicable forthe' manufacture of sheets,

tubes and other shapes. For many purposes for which copper is used inthe arts, because 1'06 of its rion-corrodibility such as evaporatingdevices and the like, 1t 1s desirable to have it of a somewhat strongercharacter. The

size of a vacuum'pan, for example, is limited by the structural strengthof copper in available sizes. A vacuum pan must withstand atmospherlcpressure and if the pan beiover ,a given size, copper sheets cannot berelied upon to furnish the strength unless of undue thickness andweight.Metal sheets for such purposes however must be like copper,

capable of being worked into shape under theand flow under the tool.

two directions. That is, instead of merely. clustering longitudinal rodsin a mold and casting copper about-them,

rods arranged in two directions. .The rods may, and-very usefullyformany purposesy be interlaced in a sort of open fabric. Pre sumingthat strengthening rods of material,

ham'mer; the metal'must be malleable I A By reinforcing] copper withsteel in the" present invention purpose instead it is better to' use Sudie described, be' wo n i w 'o of loose or open fabric, that is inright-angled arrangement, copper cast about them'to .down into sheets,an article will be secured which is substantially copper sofar as itshammering properties are concerned, but nevertheless has a greaterdegree of strength than copper alone can have. If the reinforcements be,as is preferable, each of relatively small diameter as regards the bodyof copper, on cutting the newreinforbed sheet to sizes such as aredesired, there will be merely spots of steel exposed; and these spotsmay, and usually will, be tod small in diameter to allow corrosion topenetrate too far by capillarypenetration. lhey may, of course, betouched with a soldering iron. The reinforced sheet may also be punchedand drilled to receive rivets and the like without any substantialexposure of the reinforcing metal.

Reinforced bars or sheets such as described, which may havereinforcements distributed through the bar or sheet in one or moreplanes, may of course be converted into structural elements, such as Ts,lls, channels, cross-sectioned elements, etc. For such material ofcourse perforated plates of strong metal, expanded metal, orelectrically welded woven screen as well as ordinary woven screenmaterial may be employed. But the product, using such materials, doesnot have the reinforcements spaced and isolated from each other at allpoints. T v

In Fig. 10 l have shown a section of a reinforced bar adapted for makingsheets and other flat shapes and containing strengthening rods in a sortof loose oropen angled arrangement. As shown, ithas reinforcing rods 7,crossing the width of the bar reinforcement 7 extending lengthwise ofthe bar, both being embodied and held in a mass ofcopper 6.

What I claim is i 1. A reinforced metal article compris ng i an integralbodyof copper and aplurality of isolated linear reinforcing elements in1 substantially parallel alinement contained within said body of copper,said elements being spaced awayfrom each other and comprising linearbodies of steel having the characteristics of preworked metal and havingworked surfaces in contact with Worked surfaces of copper.

2. A reinforced metal article comprising an integral body of copper anda plurality of isolated linear reinforcing elements in substantiallyparallel alinement contained within said body of copper, said elementsbeing spaced away from each other and comprising frictionally heldlinear elements of steel having the characteristics of preworked metaland having worked surfaces in contact with worked surfaces of copper,each'of said steel bodies being of a threadlikerelatively minutecross-sect on.

3. A reinforced metal article comprising I of isolated linearreinforcing elements in substantially parallel alinement containedwithin said body of copper, said elements being spaced away from eachother and comprising copper shells and threadlike steel cores and havingthe characteristics of preworked metals and the core being held to theshell by engagement between co-worked surfaces. a

4. A reinforced metal article comprising an integralgbody of copper anda plurality of isolated linear reinforcing elements in substantiallyparallel alinement incorporated in and distributed through said body ofcopper, said elements comprising copper shells and contained threadlikesteel cores and having the characteristics of preworked metals, each ofsaid cores-being-of a threadlike relatively minute cross-section and thecores beingheld to the shells by engagement between co-worked surfaces.

5. A reinforced metal article comprising an integral body of cupriferousmetal and a plurality of isolated linear reinforcing elements insubstantially parallel alinementincorporated with and distributedthrough said body of cupriferous metal, said elements comprising linearbodiesof steel having the characteristics of preworked metal,

said steel being held to the cupriferous.

metal by engagement between co-worked surfaces.

6. A reinforced metal article comprising an integral body of cupriferousmetal and a plurality of isolated linear reinforcing elements insubstantially parallel alinement incorporated with and distributedthrough said body of cupriferous metal, said elements comprising linearelements of steel having the characteristics of preworked metal, each ofsaid steel elements being of a threadlike relatively minutecross-section and held by engagement with a co-worked surface ofcupriferous metal.

.7. A reinforced metal article'comprising an integral body ofcupriferous metal and a plurality of isolated linear reinforcingelements in substantially parallel alinement incorporated with anddistributed through said body of cupriferous metal, said elementscomprising cupriferous shells and threadlike steel cores and having thecharacteristics of preworked metals, said cores being held in saidshells by engagement between co-worked surfaces.

8. reinforced metal article comprising an integral body of cupriferousmetal and a plurality of isolated linear reinforcing elements insubstantially parallel alinement incorporated with and distributedthrough said body of cupriferous metal, said elements comprisingcupriferous shells and threadlike steel cores and having thecharacteristics of preworked metalaeach of said memes elements being ofa threadlike relatively rangement as regards each other and as regardsthe mold walls, casting a body of low temperature cu riferous metalthereamong and therearoun to form a body of such cupriferous metalinclosing such rods and then working down the cupriferous metal in suchway as to. give uniform extension-of such Wody and of such includedrods. v

10.- In the manufacture of reinforced 'cupriferous articles, the processwhich comprises assembling a plurality of relatively small steel rods ina mold in an isolated arrangement as regards each other and as regardsthe mold walls, casting a body of low temperature copper thereamong andtherearound to form a body of such copper inclosing such rods and thenworking down the copper in such way as to give uniform extension of suchbody and of such included rods.

11. The process of producing a reinforced oupriferous metal whlchcomprises spacing a lurality of rodsof steel-in a mold in iso atedarrangement and casting low temperature copper thereabout and thereamong1n contact with: said steel and working down the composite casting to afinal shape in a plurality of hot 'rolling operations, the materialbeing superficially cooled prior to each hot rolling operationa I 12.The process of producing a reinforced cupriferous metal which comprisesspacing a plurality of rods of steel 1n a mold in isolated arrangement,casting low temperature copper thereabout" and thereamong in contactwith; said steel, working down the composite casting to rod form in aplurality of hot rolling operations, the materlal being superficiallycooled prior to each hot rollingoperation, placing the rods obtained ina moldand casting copper about them to form a secondary billet.

13. The process of producing a reinforced cupriferous metal whichcomprises spacing a plurality of rods of steel in a mold 1n 1solatedarrangement, casting low temperature copper thereabout and thereamong incon- .tact with said steel, working down the composite casting to rodform in a plurality of hot rolling operations, the material beingsuperficially cooled prior to each hot rolling operation, placing therods obtained in a mold, casting copper about-them to form asecondarybillet and'working down said secondary billet. I

In testimony whereof, I afiix my signature in the presence of twosubscribing witnes'ses. a

WILLIAM MARSHALL PAGE. Witnesses: I Y y K; P. MoEL'noY, I FRANK R.CHAMBERS, Jr,

